OT - Call for PNW secession from the US

<br> <br><br>5 years into GWB's presidency, I think it's time we revisit the campaign for the PNW, Alaska and Northern California to secede from the US and Canada and form our own country, the Republic of Cascadia.<br><br>Yes, this is apparently a quasi serious campaign, and, Yes, I just wasted an hour when I was suppose to be working learning about this fascinating idea. I've known for a while about the State of Jefferson, the now mythical idea of Northern California and Southern Oregon forming their own state, but I never realized us PNW'ers wanted to form our own country! According to this Wikipedia article on Cascadia we have quite a history of wishing for this,<br>

Elements among the regions population sought to break free of American rule to form their own country from the very beginning of Oregon's statehood. While the Southern states broke free to form the Confederacy, Oregonians saw it as a perfect opportunity to do the same and gave new life to Jefferson's original idea, by trying to establish a country under Jefferson's name: the "Republic of the Pacific" which soon began to spread quickly in the region. Being at war with the confederacy and not being in a position to put the movement in Oregon down by use of force, the American government launched a propaganda attack in 1861 to destroy the movement by trying to associate the Pacific movement with a group called the Knights of The Golden Circle which was a pro-Confederate, pro-slavery organization. Soon, the American government was able to whip the region back into line

<br><br>And currently,<br>

In more recent years, a more organized movement calling for the re-unification of the original Oregon Territory (which included the area of the modern day Alaskan panhandle, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Western Idaho and Northern California) into a single entity for the purpose of gaining independence from both the United States and Canada has come into being under the name of the Evergreen Revolution. Supporters of the Evergreen Revolution, hope to one day achieve the independence of Cascadia through peaceful means, much the same way as was done in the former Czecho-Slovakia's Velvet Revolution in 1989.

<br><br>Think of the advantages:<br>- We would no longer have to pretend to have a Canadian accent when we travel abroad.<br>- We would no longer start each conversation with a Frenchman by profusely apologizing and informing them we didn't vote for GWB.<br>- We can have Muslim friends again without fear of being shipping to a torture factory in Eastern Europe.<br>- The NSA will no longer spy on telephone calls with our mothers.<br>- Women will be given rights again.<br>- No more lines at the border to ski in Canada.<br>- No more currency exchange to ski in Canada.<br>- Real avalanche funding.<br>- Sledneck laws will be written right into our constituion.<br>- Canadians will be taught how to cook.<br>- And, no more political rants (like this one) on TAY.<br><br>Go Cascadia!<br><br>

PS: Please do not post last week's New York Times article about inaccurate information in Wikipedia. Don't crush my hopes about this!

I'm still waiting for the State of Jefferson!<br><br> www.jeffersonstate.com/

This book was required reading when I was a college student at TESC back in the '70s. <br><br>Everything old is new again.

I am pretty sure it still is required at Evegreen. all the dopey-free-sex and drugs-utopia scenes make it less than it could be....but still full of great ideas.

Required reading at Evergreen? Now that's an oxymoron.